Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality Volume 3

Session Objectives

• To describe the scope, purpose and content of Volume 3 of the Guidelines for Drinking-
water Quality and the process of it’s development.

• To describe the basic concepts incorporated within Volume 3 of the Guidelines and show
how these should be addressed within the context of monitoring development.

• To describe the implementation of surveillance programmes in small communities and to

emphasise the use the use of sanitary surveys, source protection and minimum treatment
requirements in these areas.

WHO SEMINAR PACK FOR DRINKING-WATER QUALITY

 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality Volume 3

History and Development

The first edition of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality was published by WHO in
1984-1985 and was intended to supersede earlier European and international standards.
Volume 1 contained guideline values for various constituents of drinking-water and Volume
2 the criteria monographs prepared for each substance or contaminant on which the guideline
values were based. Volumes 1 and 2 of the Guidelines are therefore intended to be supportive
of risk assessment. In translating the information they contain into risk management, largely
through standard-setting, Member States are encouraged to take social, economic and cultural
factors into consideration.

Volume 3 was concerned with the monitoring and management of drinking-water in small
communities, particularly those in rural areas - a problem of world-wide concern. In contrast
to the first two volumes it therefore includes relatively extensive coverage of technical,
managerial and organizational aspects.

A number of important principles were established in the first edition of Volume 3 of the
Guidelines, published in 1985. These included:

• the distinct and complementary roles of the water supplier and the surveillance agency;
• the unique nature of the problems associated with the monitoring of small community
supplies;
• the central role of microbiological monitoring of supplies of this type, including the
concept of critical parameter testing; and
• the importance of ensuring that surveillance leads to engineering improvements and other
remedial measures.
• It also noted the importance of remedial measures and of community participation.

During the International Drinking-water Supply and Sanitation Decade 1981 - 1990
considerable experience was gained in the surveillance and improvement of small community
supplies. The first edition of Volume 3 of the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
provided a basis for a number of pilot projects and country programs in central and south
America, Africa and various parts of Asia and the Pacific, several with the support of the
Overseas Development Administration of the United Kingdom (ODA) and the United
Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Regional and national training courses were
conducted which were also supported by the Danish International Development Agency
(DANIDA) and which allowed for the review and evaluation of the approaches and materials
proposed in the Guidelines. In particular the experience gained through three demonstration
projects supported in part by WHO in Indonesia, Peru and Zambia was reviewed and
published in 1991.

Experience gained during the Decade highlighted the importance of additional concepts
which were integrated into the second edition of Guidelines Volume 3. These included:

• the need to consider water quality not in isolation but as one of a number of water supply
service parameters which influence health;

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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

• an understanding of the linkages between monitoring and improvement which then

provided the structure of the document;
• the fundamental importance of sanitary inspection and of its systematization;
• practical means to compare and present information on supply service quality to assist in
decision-making; and
• the importance of addressing small community supplies of all types, including those to
small peri-urban settlements.
• And the second edition therefore also included increased attention to human resource
development and communication issues.

The preparation of the second edition of the Guidelines Volume 3 was made possible through
a grant provided by ODA to the Robens Institute, University of Surrey, UK and through the
support of DANIDA to the second review meeting. The process began at a review meeting
held in Harare, Zimbabwe 24 - 28 June 1991, when proposed changes were reviewed and a
detailed outline agreed. A draft of the revised Volume 3 was reviewed at the Final Task
Group Meeting on the Revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality held in
Geneva 21 - 25 September 1992. That meeting endorsed the general content of the draft,
made specific recommendations for finalisation and recommended that a revised draft be
reviewed at a technical meeting in Tirana in 1993 before publication. The final version of
Volume 3 reflected the experience of the three demonstration projects in Indonesia, Peru and
Zambia and many other projects concerned with improving the quality of water services
undertaken during the Decade.

Scope and Applicability of Volume 3

Volume 3 of the Guidelines specifically addresses the specific problems associated with the
surveillance of ‘community supplies’. The precise definition of a ‘community water supply’
will vary. Whilst a definition based upon population size or type of supply may be
appropriate under many conditions, it is often administration and management that set aside
community supplies. The involvement of ordinary, often untrained and sometimes unpaid
community members in the administration and operation of water supply systems is often
characteristic of small communities and this provides already distinction between community
water supplies and those of larger towns and cities. However water supplies in peri-urban
areas around larger towns and cities may be organizationally similar to those of rural
communities and may also be classified as ‘community water supplies’.

In addition to the voluntary and local nature of the operation and management of many
community supplies, they present additional challenges to the surveillance function. These
challenges include the fact that the quality control function which would normally be
undertaken by the supply agency may be entirely absent - a local volunteer is unlikely to be
able to undertake analytical quality control - and the role of the surveillance agency may have
to be modified accordingly.

Similarly, especially rural community supplies are often disperse and sometimes distant from
the bases of operation of the surveillance agency. Organizing programs of regular visits to
such communities presents a particular challenge and may be costly.

Finally, evidence clearly indicates that microbiological contamination is the principal health
concern for community water supplies world-wide. Since microbiological contamination
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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

may vary widely and rapidly, approaches based upon sampling and analysis may be entirely
inadequate in such supplies and great reliance must be placed upon preventive measures and
sanitary inspection in order to ensure microbiological safety.

While conditions vary between countries and regions, as a result of differences in economic,
geographical, cultural and social conditions, the strategies and procedures described in
Volume 3 should be widely applicable.

Content and Structure

Volume 3 describes the methods employed in the surveillance of drinking-water supply and
quality in light of the special problems of small-community supplies and outlines the
strategies necessary to ensure that surveillance is effective. It is also concerned with the
linkages between surveillance and remedial action and with the form that remedial action
should take.

The structure of Volume 3 reflects the principal stages in the development of surveillance and
in shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Structure of Volume 3 of the GDWQ

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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

Chapter 2 covers planning and subsequent chapters deal with the procedures used in the
collection of information - sanitary inspection and community surveys (Chapter 3), and the
analysis of water quality (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 considers the analysis and interpretation of
the information gathered and its use in improving water supply services. The final three
chapters cover strategies for improvement - technical interventions (Chapter 6), hygiene
education (Chapter 7) and legislation and regulation (Chapter 8).

Basic Concepts

The distinct and complementary roles of the water supplier and the surveillance agency
Organizational arrangements for the improvement of water supply services should take into
account the vital and complementary roles of the agency responsible for surveillance and the
water supplier.

In most countries the agency responsible for surveillance of drinking-water supply services is
the Ministry of Health and its regional or departmental offices. In some countries there is an
environmental protection agency; in others environmental health departments of local
government may have some responsibility. Its responsibilities should encompass: the
monitoring of compliance with supply service standards including quality, coverage, quantity,
continuity and cost by water suppliers; approving sources of drinking-water, and; surveying
the provision of drinking-water to the population as a whole.

The surveillance agency should be given the necessary powers to administer and enforce
laws, regulations and codes concerned with water quality. Surveillance is indispensable for
the development of rational strategies for the improvement of the quality of water-supply
services.

Water suppliers should be responsible at all times for the quality and safety of the water that
they produce, and they achieve this through a combination of good operating practice and
preventive maintenance, supported by quality control. Water quality control is the
responsibility of the supplier and involves the establishment of safeguards in the production
and distribution of drinking-water as well as routine testing of water quality to ensure
compliance with national standards.

Quality control is distinguished from surveillance on the basis of institutional responsibilities

and the frequency of monitoring activities conducted. The surveillance agency is responsible
for an independent (external) and periodic audit of all aspects of safety, whereas the water
supplier is responsible at all times for regular quality control, and for the monitoring and
ensuring safe operations.

These two functions - surveillance and quality control are best performed by separate and
independent entities because of the conflict of interests that arises when they are combined.

The central role of microbiological monitoring

As noted above, evidence clearly indicates that microbiological contamination is the principal
health concern in community water supplies world-wide. Furthermore, since microbiological
contamination may vary widely and rapidly, approaches based upon sampling and analysis

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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

may be entirely inadequate in such supplies and great reliance must be placed upon
preventive measures and sanitary inspection in order to ensure microbiological safety.

There are three principal components to the strategy which should be adopted and promoted.
Firstly, systems should be intrinsically well-designed and capable of supplying safe water
continuously. For groundwater sources this is generally achieved through source protection
measures; whilst for surface water sources the selection of treatment processes and system
capacity should take into account the quality and quality variations in the source water.

Secondly, regular inspections should be made to ensure that the system continues to operate
safely. These sanitary inspections should take account of the whole of the supply system -
from source to point of supply; and should systematically assess the condition of the system.
Considerable information is included in Volume 3 including examples of sanitary inspections
forms for adaptation to local circumstances. Sanitary inspections may be performed by both
the surveillance agency and by the community itself. Community inspections help to ensure a
higher frequency of surveillance activity than the surveillance agency itself might be able to
perform. When sanitary inspections are carried out, they must use standardized
methodologies to allow the consolidation of data at regional and national levels in order to
prioritize interventions and investment on the basis of greatest need.

Finally, not all sources of contamination are detected by sanitary inspection, however
carefully performed, and it is therefore essential to undertake occasional sampling and
analysis for the critical parameters of drinking-water quality.

The importance of ensuring that surveillance leads to improvement

For water supply surveillance to lead to improved drinking-water supply services it is vital
that the mechanisms for promoting improvement are recognized and used. Information alone
does not lead to improvement. It is the effective management and use of the information
generated by surveillance that makes possible the rational improvement of water supplies -
where ‘rational’ means that available resources are used for maximum public health benefit.

The ways in which surveillance may lead to improvements in water supply provision are dealt
with in some detail in chapters 5 to 8 and are summarized in Table 1 below which is taken
from Volume 3.

Table 1: Mechanisms for the improvement of water-supply services based on the results
of water-supply surveillance

• Establishing national priorities

When the commonest problems and shortcomings in water-supply systems have been
identified, national strategies can be formulated for improvements and remedial measures;
these might include changes in training (of managers, administrators, engineers, or field
staff), rolling programmes for rehabilitation or improvement, or changes in funding
strategies to target specific needs.

• Establishing regional priorities

Regional offices of water-supply agencies can decide which communities to work in and
which remedial activities are priorities; public health criteria should be considered when
priorities are set.
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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

• Establishing hygiene education

Not all of the problems revealed by surveillance are technical in nature, and not all are
solved by supply and construction agencies; surveillance also looks at problems involving
private supplies, water collection and transport, and household treatment and storage. The
solutions to many of these problems are likely to require educational and promotional
activities coordinated by the health agency.

• Enforcement of standards
Many countries have laws and standards related to public water supply. The information
generated by surveillance can be used to assess compliance with standards by supply
agencies. Corrective action can be taken where necessary, but its feasibility must be
considered, and enforcement of standards should be linked to strategies for progressive
improvement.

• Ensuring community operation and maintenance

Support should be provided by a designated authority to enable community members to
be trained so that they are able to assume responsibility for the operation and maintenance
of their water supplies.

Parameters of water supply service quality

While the safe quality of water supplied to communities is an important consideration in the
protection of human health and well-being, it is not the only factor that affects the health of
consumers. Access to water is of paramount concern and other factors such as the population
served , the reliability of the supply and the cost to the consumer must therefore be taken into
account. At the United Nations Conference at Mar del Plata in 1977 which launched the
International Drinking-water Supply and Sanitation Decade, this philosophy was
unambiguously and the Conference Declaration included the statement that: ‘all peoples,
whatever their stage of development and social and economic condition have the right to
have access to drinking-water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs’.

Access to water may be restricted in several ways, e.g. by prohibitive charges, daily or
seasonal fluctuations, breakdown, or lack of supplies to remote areas. Seasonal, geographic
and hydrological factors may conspire to deprive households, communities or regions of a
continuous, reliable supply of safe drinking-water. Such problems are not confined to poorer
countries: they are also experienced in industrialized countries where the management of
demand has failed or population growth has outpaced the rate of development of water
resources for example.

If the performance of a community water supply is to be properly evaluated a number of

factors must be considered. Quantitative service indicators for this purpose may include:

quality the proportion of samples or supplies that comply with guideline

values for drinking-water quality and minimum criteria for treatment
and source protection
coverage the percentage of the population that has a recognizable (usually
public) water supply system

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 3: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT (GUIDELINES)

quantity the average volume of water used by consumers for domestic

purposes (expressed as liters per capita per day)
continuity the percentage of the time during which water is available (daily
weekly or seasonally)
cost the tariff paid by domestic consumers

Need to address the population as a whole/all community supplies

It is those persons with inadequate or no water supply who are at greatest public health risk.
It is technically possible, effective from a public health viewpoint and ethically desirable to
identify such populations and to target them for improvements. Thus whilst the supply
agency should be responsible for the quality of the service they provide, the surveillance
agency should seek to assess the water supply to the population as a whole - including
identifying the extent of supply within ‘supplied’ communities, identifying communities with
no supply and determining the means of provision employed by the ‘disperse’ population.

Implementation

Surveillance is an investigative activity undertaken to identify and evaluate factors associated

with drinking-water which could pose a risk to health. Surveillance contributes to the
protection of public health by promoting improvement of the quality, quantity, coverage, cost
and continuity of water supplies. It is also both preventive - detecting risks so that action may
be taken before public health problems occur - and remedial identifying the sources of
outbreaks of waterborne disease so that corrective action may be taken promptly.

Surveillance requires a systematic program of surveys that combine sampling and analysis,
sanitary inspection and institutional and community aspects.

Conclude presentation with a summary:

This presentation has covered:

• the history of Volume 3, its special character and purpose in addressing a specific
problem of world-wide concern.

• the key principles underlying the volume and concerning surveillance of community
supplies.

• the structure and content of volume and how it relates to the implementation of a
surveillance program.

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 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality Volume 3

Presentation Plan

Section Key points OHP

History and • first edition of the GDWQ published 1984-5 in 3 volumes 1, 2, 3
Development • volume 1: guidelines; volume 2: criteria and supporting
information; volume 3: community water supplies
• volumes 1&2 provide risk assessment, whilst volume 3
emphasises implementation in small community water supplies
and covers other aspects
• 1st edition established key principles (see OHP2)
• in IWSSD (1980s) considerable experience in small community
water supplies and pilot projects used to test and refine volume 3
• this led to additional concepts included in volume 3
• volume 3 reviewed at 2 meetings and finally Tirana in 1993
Scope and • volume 3 specifically addresses community-based water supplies 4
applicability • community supplies defined on the basis of management/
of Volume 3 administration rather than population size or type of supply
• community supplies may cover both peri-urban and rural water
supplies operated and managed by non-professional community
members
• community water supplies present unique monitoring problems,
there is often no quality control function and thus modified
surveillance role
• rural communities often dispersed and many in number making
surveillance costly
• need to emphasise preventive actions and non-analytical
approaches to surveillance to ensure microbiological quality
Content and • volume 3 outlines methods for surveillance in community water 5
Structure supplies and in particular the linkage of surveillance to
improvement of water supplies
• the structure of the document reflects the stages of surveillance
development for community supplies

WHO SEMINAR PACK FOR DRINKING-WATER QUALITY

Section Key points OHP
Basic Distinct and complementary roles of supplier & surveillance agency 6,7
Concepts • institutional structure of the water sector must recognise the vital
and complementary roles of suppliers and surveillance agencies
• surveillance usually done by MoH, but sometime by MoE or
local government and should encompass quality, quantity,
continuity, coverage and cost
• surveillance agency should enforce water laws and use
monitoring data to improve water supplies
• water suppliers responsible for quality control of water they
supply
• surveillance is independent audit of water supply
• should separate institutions undertaking quality control and
surveillance to prevent conflict of interest

Central role of microbiological monitoring

• microbiological contamination is principal health concern in
community water supplies
• microbiological contamination may vary widely and rapidly,
therefore analytical approaches alone are not adequate
• sanitary inspection and preventive measures are essential 8, 9,
• approaches to community water supply should ensure that:
10,
a) systems are well-designed to provide safe water
continuously (source protection & minimum treatment) 11
b) regular sanitary inspection carried out on all system to
ensure risks rapidly identified and eliminated
c) occasional water analysis carried out of critical
parameters

Importance of linking surveillance to improvement

• surveillance must link to improvement and mechanisms to
achieve this must be identified
• information alone is not sufficient, but the rational use of
information for improvement of water supplies (prioritisation,
identification of faults etc.)

WHO SEMINAR PACK FOR DRINKING-WATER QUALITY

Section Key points OHP
Basic Parameters of water supply
Concepts • must address all aspects of water supply
(continued) • access must be seen as the key priority
• also take reliability, coverage and cost into account
• there can be many reasons why access to water supplies may be
restricted
• when evaluating performance of community water supplies, can
use five quantitative indicators: quality, quantity, continuity,
coverage & cost

Need to address community as a whole

• those parts of population with inadequate or no water supply at
greatest risk
• should target these groups for investment
• supply agency responsible for ensuring adequacy of supply to the
‘supplied’ population
• surveillance agency should assess whole population, identify
those not supplied and determine mechanisms to rectify this
Implementa- • surveillance is an investigative public health-based activity
tion • surveillance protects health through promoting improvement in
water supply
• it is both preventive and remedial
• surveillance is systematic and includes analysis, inspection,
institutional and community aspects
Conclusions • have covered summary of volume 3
• shown the principles underlying volume 3
• provided structure and content of volume 3 & its implementation

WHO SEMINAR PACK FOR DRINKING-WATER QUALITY

 WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water
Quality

Volume 1 Recommendations

Volume 2 Health Criteria and other Supporting

Information (IPCS)

Volume 3 Surveillance and Control of

Community Supplies

1
 Principles Underlying Volume 3

O Suppliers and surveillance agency have distinct and

complementary roles

O Small & community water supplies have unique

require a different approach to monitoring

O Critical parameter testing is of paramount

importance

O Surveillance must be linked to improvements in

water supply

O Many small supplies are community managed and

therefore community participation is essential

2
 Lessons learnt during the IDWSSD

O Key parameters: quantity; quality; continuity;

coverage; and cost

O Linkages between monitoring and improvements

must be clearly understood

O Sanitary inspections are essential and should be

systematic

O Water supply monitoring data must be comparable

to be of use

O Community supplies, including those in peri-urban

areas, must be addressed

O Human resource development and communication

of monitoring information are vital

3
 Scope and Applicability of Volume 3

O Specifically addresses community-based water

supplies

O Community supplies may cover both peri-urban and

rural water supplies operated and managed by non-
professional community workers

O Community water supplies present unique

monitoring problems often with no quality control

O Rural communities often numerous and dispersed

thus making surveillance costly

O Need to emphasise preventative actions and non-

analytical approaches to surveillance to ensure
microbiological quality

4
Structure of Volume 3 of the GDWQ

5
Distinct and complimentary roles of
suppliers and surveillance agencies

6
Strategy for water supply quality
protection and improvement

7
 Critical Parameters

Parameter Recommended Level

Faecal coliforms 0 per 100 ml
Turbidity <5 NTU
Disinfectant residual 0.2 - 0.5 mg/l
pH 6.5 - 8.5

Note: Samples must be analysed within six hours of

taking the sample from a water supply. In areas where
transport or roads are poor and this is not possible,
portable water testing kits can be used.

8
Use of monitoring data to improve water
supply

O Establishing national priorities

O Establishing regional priorities

O Establishing hygiene education

O Enforcement of standards

O Ensuring community operation and maintenance

O Human resource development and communication

of monitoring information are vital

9
 Five Key Parameters of Water Supply
Service

O Quality

O Coverage

O Quantity

O Continuity

O Cost

10
 Human Resources Development for
Water Supply Surveillance in Peru

Source: Lloyd et al., 1991

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